How Many Pieces

Honestly, I don't think there is any one right answer to your question.

How big are the sizes of your pieces?
I make stuff that is 6x8 (smallest), 8x12, 12x16, 16x20. These are my common sizes. I have some things bigger but only one of each of those sizes to display. I generally display somewhere around 60 pieces in my 10x10 booth. I only do originals (I make wood art) and so I can't give you any advice on prints or anything like that but maybe someone else can.

A few yrs back my 1st show I ever done all I had was 30 pieces (no back ups of inventory). I spaced everything out really neat and went with it. When I sold stuff I just rearranged everything to make it look neat because I didn't have anything to put back in the space.

There are a lot of things involved in making the decisions about inventory. Obviously you will need a lot more pieces for a 3 or 4 day huge show than you will for a 1 day smaller show.

Think of this rule of thumb (I know it sounds simple) but IF YOU DONT HAVE IT YOU CAN'T SELL IT! If you go to a show hoping to make a couple thousand dollars then you will need a few thousand dollars worth of inventory. You probably have plenty of time to build up inventory between now and July.
When I go to a show I generally take between $10,000-$30,000 worth of inventory with me. Less for a shorter show and more for a longer big show. Every show is different (you will learn) some you don't waste the effort of taking big pieces cause they don't really sell at that show & others those $25 items are a waste of space in your booth when the big pieces are what's walking out the door.

For a newbie I would try to have enough pieces to fill your walls and then enough extra to fill it all up once again. If all your pieces are only 4x6 or only 48x60 then the # of pieces will vary on how many you need to fill up your booth. I don't want to tell you to try to build up your inventory so you have X amount of $ in inventory when you may actually hate doing shows. You will just have to try it and see. You may get bitten by the bug and become a slave to it like the rest of us LOL

I hope this has helped you some and I wish you well with it all. If you have more questions I will try to help you and I'm sure others will as well.

Don't forget to have fun with it all because there probably aren't very many jobs that are as rewarding as this one is.........that's just my opinion (I'm biased)

Mel

Replies

Mel Hamrick January 19, 2015 at 9:20pm

Honestly, I don't think there is any one right answer to your question.

How big are the sizes of your pieces?
I make stuff that is 6x8 (smallest), 8x12, 12x16, 16x20. These are my common sizes. I have some things bigger but only one of each of those sizes to display. I generally display somewhere around 60 pieces in my 10x10 booth. I only do originals (I make wood art) and so I can't give you any advice on prints or anything like that but maybe someone else can.

A few yrs back my 1st show I ever done all I had was 30 pieces (no back ups of inventory). I spaced everything out really neat and went with it. When I sold stuff I just rearranged everything to make it look neat because I didn't have anything to put back in the space.

There are a lot of things involved in making the decisions about inventory. Obviously you will need a lot more pieces for a 3 or 4 day huge show than you will for a 1 day smaller show.

Think of this rule of thumb (I know it sounds simple) but IF YOU DONT HAVE IT YOU CAN'T SELL IT! If you go to a show hoping to make a couple thousand dollars then you will need a few thousand dollars worth of inventory. You probably have plenty of time to build up inventory between now and July.
When I go to a show I generally take between $10,000-$30,000 worth of inventory with me. Less for a shorter show and more for a longer big show. Every show is different (you will learn) some you don't waste the effort of taking big pieces cause they don't really sell at that show & others those $25 items are a waste of space in your booth when the big pieces are what's walking out the door.

For a newbie I would try to have enough pieces to fill your walls and then enough extra to fill it all up once again. If all your pieces are only 4x6 or only 48x60 then the # of pieces will vary on how many you need to fill up your booth. I don't want to tell you to try to build up your inventory so you have X amount of $ in inventory when you may actually hate doing shows. You will just have to try it and see. You may get bitten by the bug and become a slave to it like the rest of us LOL

I hope this has helped you some and I wish you well with it all. If you have more questions I will try to help you and I'm sure others will as well.

Don't forget to have fun with it all because there probably aren't very many jobs that are as rewarding as this one is.........that's just my opinion (I'm biased)

Mel
Joseph Lockwood January 19, 2015 at 10:53am

Savina- I'm curious about your experience; care to share your hard earned knowledge after the fact? I'm personally interested in what you learned since I hope to pursue the art fair circuit myself and am happy to soak up the info on AFI. It obviously comes down to sales and individual experience but any surprises or lessons to pass on to those behind you on the learning curve? Thanks!

This reply was deleted.